Brush BOE taking MLO, bond to the voters

By Iva Kay Horner Publisher/Editor

Posted:
09/06/2016 07:49:19 AM MDT

Updated:
09/06/2016 07:51:03 AM MDT

Brush Board of Education President Warren Walker presented Pam Schwab with a certificate of appreciation received from the Colorado Department of Education recently. The certificate honors Schwab and the district for being one of very few in the state with clean, accurate coding of its continuous enrollment fields. (Courtesy photo/Brush School District)

Members of the “Keep the Beet Alive” steering committee have their work cut out for them as the Brush School District Board of Education (BOE) recently finalized and certified the language for ballot issues regarding the Mill Levy Override (MLO) and bond issue.At a special meeting held last Wednesday, the BOE agreed to ask voters in the RE-2J School District to approve a $2 million MLO that includes a five-year sunset clause.If approved on November 8, funds would be used to support and expand academic opportunities for students through updated technology, textbooks and learning materials, attract and retain high quality teachers and staff through regionally competitive salaries, prevent further cuts to programs such as art, athletics, industrial arts and music, restore the level of maintenance in all school facilities to extend their life and replace older buses and school vehicles based on safety and condition.As for the bond issue, the multi-faceted question will ask voters to increase the district’s debt $38.5 million with a repayment cost of up to $60.8 million, raising district taxes by up to $3.4 million annually by the issuance of bonds, subject to a district award of state financial assistance under the BEST program, which could finance a portion of the costs of one or more purposes.Among those are addressing health, safety, security and educational deficiencies in the middle and high school by constructing a new middle and high school facility on the site of the current high school and repurposing and renovating portions of the old high school building.

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Another purpose listed will be to modernize, update, renovate and equip classrooms to promote the teaching of skills necessary to prepare students to compete in the workforce and raze the outdated portion of the old high school building and existing middle school.The question also asks that if “extent funds are available to acquire, construct and repair district capital assets, which general obligation bonds shall bear interest, mature, be subject to redemption, with or without premium, and be issued at such time, at such price (at, above or below par) and in such manner and containing such terms, not inconsistent with this ballot issue, as the Board of Education may determine, and shall ad valorem property taxes be levied without limit as to the mill rate to generate an amount sufficient in each year to pay the principal of, premium if any, and interest on such debt and to fund any reserves for the payment thereof?”With the language finalized the board now can only provide information on the matters, leaving any publicizing to the steering committee.Speaking on behalf of the committee were Kayla Castrup and Morgan Hass, who explained that the 15-member committee already has been working on the campaign.Castrup told the BOE, “Keep The Beet Alive - a simple phrase with so much impact. To me ‘Keep the Beet Alive’ is as simple as continuing the tradition of our school district which runs with deep roots in our community, and as complex as convincing those people in our community to do for the current and future students in the Brush School District what their elders did, and that’s support education.”She continued, “We have a great committee of people and we fully believe that together we can educate our peers and get this Mill Levy Override and bond initiative to pass in our community. As a committee we believe it is important to keep the positivity rolling full speed ahead.”Among the sub-committees already formed are finance, voter registration, presentation, ballot book and campaign, with Hass stating, “We are committed to running a positive campaign…we want to stay away from threats.”Donations, which will be used for campaign signage, flyers, etc., are being sought with the committee opening bank accounts at both Farmers State Bank and Bank of Colorado. Any funds remaining after the campaign will be distributed between the four school buildings, Castrup explained.The committee plans on going door-to-door, setting up at parent-teacher conferences and Oktoberfest, and making presentations to the Morgan County Commissioners, Brush Rotary and Lions Clubs.Flyers will be distributed at games, with Hass adding that a website, separate from the school district’s, also is being built. To be in both English and Spanish, Hass said, “This will be a great tool to help keep any misinformation from being spread.” Plans include setting up Facebook and Twitter accounts as well.“Our timeline is pretty simple,” Castrup stated. “We have two months to make sure all of our community is educated on why the Mill Levy Override and bond initiative are absolutely necessary to ensure the future success of our community. Two months to make sure when people walk into that booth in November or are filling out their mail in ballot, that they check yes.”“It will be a battle, but we’re ready,” she added. “We’re ready to help.”In other business, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bill Wilson reported that “Enrollment is certainly strong”, adding that final numbers will not be available until October. “There’s no reason not to expect that we’ll have as many if not more as in previous years,” he told the board. Preschool classes begin after Labor Day.And upon acceptance of the personnel list that night, he added that the district would be fully staffed.Approved to serve the district as substitute teachers were Karen Parmelee, Judith Parker, Patricia Manning, John Ritcher and Mathew Johnson, with Robyn Plugge and Cody Pfau hired as a one-on-one paraprofessionals at Brush Middle School and Tasha Thisell as a one-on-one paraprofessional at Thomson Primary School.Approved as volunteer coaches for the 2016-17 school year were Malori Rudnik for high school volleyball, Sheryl Hass for Brush High School (BHS) cheerleading, Ross Blank for high school cross country and Dallas Tavenner for the BMS volleyball program.Resignations from Jeff Barfuss as BHS girls basketball head coach, along with Bill Nichols as the program’s assistant coach, were accepted as well.The next meeting of the BOE will be held Tuesday, September 6 at 6 p.m. at the district office with a work session to immediately follow.

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